WOOLOO ARTISTS SELECTED FOR FLUX FACTORY

Wooloo's friends at Flux Factory, the great New York City residency program, have made their selections for new residents. We are happy to learn that WOOLOO.ORG members Gretta Louw, Alexandra Wolkowicz, Jesper Aabille and Yuki Maruyama are among them.

Enjoy your stay! It will be amazing.

For those of you in London, check out I Am Solitary opening tomorrow. The show explores the formation and deconstruction of identity and WOOLOO.ORG artists Winston Chmielinski, Andrew Salgado and Grace Kim were selected via the Open Call.

All the best with the show!

SELECTED FOR THE SPRING EXHIBITION

The "Spring Exhibition" was founded in 1857 and is one of the most established Open Call exhibitions in Europe. So it is with great pleasure we announce that WOOLOO.ORG artist Anne Herzblut has been selected to participate in this year's show!

Former participants include Olafur Eliasson and Alvar Aalto among others.

WOOLOOPICK OF JANUARY

We are happy to announce Selena Marinello as the WoolooPick of January 2011! Selena got the majority of the public votes from WOOLOO.ORG users and visitors. She lives and works in San Diego, United States.

Wooloo spoke to Selena about her life and work.


- How would you describe your artistic practice?

Extremely messy, haphazard, and spontaneous. By the end of the art process I will have more medium covering myself than on the actual canvas, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I believe my art process to be something that is based mostly around the extreme self-criticism floating in my head as well, thus the eventual anarchy of my hands rebelling against all constraints and worries to create a master piece of messy dresses and leaving a “painty artist” in it’s wake.

- Can you give us an example of a work of yours that you are especially happy with?

Drawing the “Old Men” have been a bad habit of mine for a while and it’s an unfortunate happenstance that my father happened to draw something rather similar in his early 20s while away in the Peace Corps. I can’t really describe how I draw them, it’s like my hand wants to shit out a demon that’s been haunting my mind and these are the beings that it decides to create. I never end up drawing women, always men. I don’t ever really plan on drawing woman to be honest, it’s nothing against my own sex, I’m just tired of seeing naked women every where in art. Time for some penis.

- What inspires you to create your work?

Willpower to prove to myself that there is hope in the art world? I feel like there has been a lack of community within the realm of artists and it saddens me. I want to see a new “ism” I want to get contemporary art out of this temporary “contemporary” pluralism that it seems to be stuck in. I don’t know if I’m the right person to inspire a new revolution in art, but it’s high time this century of young artists made a mark in art history, and not just one based in technology. What that is...well I have no idea, but I feel like I’m getting close.

- Has the internet had an effect on your practice as an artist? And if yes, in what way?

I probably spend too much time hitting “random article” on Wikipedia.com and looking at more colleges to apply to more than worrying about how the internet will help me further my art career. However, this is probably what drives me the most: endless accessible knowledge that is constantly available. If I have ANY questions that randomly pop up in my head, Google will supply me with a variety of answers that I can choose from, depending on what I want to hear/read.

- How long have you been using WOOLOO.ORG and why do you find it useful?
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I’ve been on WOOLOO.ORG for a couple months and the notifications for upcoming competitions or festivals has been really helpful in knowing what is out there, internationally. As mentioned before, I don’t think a new “ism” is going to be entirely based on technology, but I believe that technology and social networking will have a large part in a global movement. Art movements are no longer restrained to individual countries since the world is so intertwined with the amount of information available on the internet, thus making it easier for an international movement in the art world for young artists! Banish the idea of being individual with art and support the passion for art and creating aesthetic beauty globally.

- Do you have anything to add?

I’m extremely surprised and touched that I’ve won WoolooPick of the month and cannot express how entirely grateful I am to those that voted for me. My only hope for the art world is that it can once again be recognized as something that is federally important to each country and not seen as an “accessory” to education. I hope to inspire those that feel art, whatever form, is their true passion in life and that they pursue it without any regret.

WOOLOO ARTISTS PUBLISHED IN PARK MAGAZINE

This week we are excited to let you know that WOOLOO.ORG artists AnnaMaria Kardos, Gavin Martin Campbell, Christina Thwaites and Jarik Jongman have had their work selected for publishing in the great Portuguese PARK magazine.

Congratulations to all of you!

WOOLOO ARTISTS SELECTED FOR LOS ANGELES SHOW

We're happy to announce that artists Philip Dembinski and Juan Alberto Negroni will be participating in the exhibition DETROIT: A BROOKLYN CASE STUDY.

Philip and Juan were selected via an Open Call on WOOLOO.ORG and the show opens in LA on the 20th of January.
Check it out if you are in town!

FEATURING WOOLOOPICK OF NOVEMBER

This week we are featuring artist Alexander Razin

With the majority of public votes from both Wooloo members and visitors, Alexander recently became the WoolooPick of November
Alexander Razin was born in 1958 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In 1996, he emigrated to the United States with his family and settled in Long Island, New York.

Wooloo spoke to Alexander about his life and work.

Wooloo: How would you describe your artistic practice?

Alexander: As a post-modern conceptual artist, I always look for symbols to connect the content of my art with the contemporary world. I always utilize the principles of repetition, simplicity, imagination, and symbolism in my art.
As of late, I have received most joy when working on site-specific installations. This includes the ‘’Japanese Garden’’ (link) and ‘’Hanging Garden’’ (link) installations featured on Wooloo.org (linkto: www.wooloo.org), as well as the recently exhibited ‘’Urban Garden project. I particularly enjoy working in larges spaces which allow me to express my ideas through different mediums.

What inspires you to create your work?

Alexander: There are a number of factors which provide inspiration for my work that are also dependent on the project at hand. However, I receive most of my inspiration from the urban landscape and everyday life in New York.

We are glad to have you on Wooloo.org. Tell us a little about your use of the website?

I have been a member of Wooloo.org for approximately two years. The website serves as a great tool for interacting and sharing work with other artists around the world who may view things from a different perspective.
Also, often I take advantage of the artist opportunities posted on the website.
In general, the internet has certainly affected the way I practice art. Primarily as an informational tool which I can use a resource to develop ideas.

You write in your bio that you grew up in an “Art Village”. What is that? Can you tell us about growing up in one?

I spent the majority of my childhood with my grandfather who was also an artist. We lived in the former Soviet Union, in a specific part of the city was dedicated to artists.
The government provided studio space and housing and the only residents were artists, fine art professors and their families.
From the age of 6 I shared my grandfather’s studio where I was constantly surrounded by various artists. This type of upbringing inspired me to become the artist I am today.